Writing with Scissors is the blog site of Howard Rodenberg, MD MPH, former Kansas State Health Director and columnist for the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS). He is a father, emergency physician, and slightly-past-fifty curmudgeon with great hair for his age. The "scissors" in question refer to those used by editors to weed out all things opinonated, controversial, or politically inappropriate...translated as "anything funny."

a new day
-
2016 is literally around the corner, leaving me with 18 months to
retirement. Its with a mixture of trepidation, expectation and hope that I
turn the page....

1 year ago

Thursday, December 11, 2014

...And We're Back!

Well, it's December and it's finally time to act upon that 2013 New Year's resolution to finish that book that I started during National Novel Writing Month. And to blog again. And to learn Pinterest. And Twitter. And to do P90X because I'm tired of having chest pain, because if I get in shape and stop having chest pain, I don't have to have a stress test which might show ischemia, which might mean I get a cardiac cath, which might mean I get a stent, which definitely means there's no more corned beef hash bowel topped with three fried eggs and melted Velveeta at the Hanover Pancake House.

So far my record is iffy. I'm on Pinterest. I have yet to Tweet or Twit or Twerp. I flunked the "Are You Ready for P90x?" fitness recommendations, so am working instead on Power 90, which includes such helpful advice as Tony Horton saying, "if we're going too fast, it's okay to hit the pause button." You can hear him whispering "and go get another donut" under his breath.

Blogging and writing have been lagging behind. Lots going on, but that's not really an excuse. When things are happening, you should be writing rather than reaching high levels in iPad games like Catan and Great Little War Game and Bloons 4, getting stuck, and then buying another game so that 37 hours and four sleepless nights later you can get stuck again. Not that I know anything about that. Or about the Huffington Post Life After 50 pages. With daily updates.

So, my friends, with your indulgence we'll try once again. Some pieces may be a lot shorter than others, but we're gonna try to get something up at least every week. And we will always attempt to address the key issues of the day. Like what marital aids can be constructed with socks and electrical tape. And if you say you feel only a little suicidal, what specific bit of you are you looking to hack off? (See? That's a shorter piece.) And is yelling at teenagers to pick up their socks in advance of the actual cleaning moment an easy way to save time when you're going to have to yell at them anyway?

In the meantime, let me refer you to my son's most excellent blog, The Critical Frog (the criticalfrog.BlogSpot.com). He does movie reviews, comments on video games and television, and occasionally throws a bone of disbelief at the latest antics of his father. He's really good. Please read and enjoy. His blog is the one time in my Star Trek Universe that The Next Generation far and away betters The Original Series.